They say that a Sailor walked into a shop and saw what he thought was an onion on the counter.  So he sliced the “onion” – made a sandwich – and promptly ate it.

That “onion” was actually a tulip bulb

And that sandwich caused the Shopkeeper to go bankrupt!

You see, he had “invested” his entire life savings into that single tulip bulb.  Because tulip bulbs where the most valuable things on the planet at the time.  There had been an enormous run-up in value – so everyone started “investing” in them. That’s right – tulip bulbs!

Then the “bubble” burst and it caused a world-wide financial meltdown

Sounds far-fetched doesn’t it?  Like I made up the story…

Well, I didn’t.

It’s true and it really happened in the early 1600′s

Many fortunes were lost because people got carried away – thinking the price of tulip bulbs would just keep going up and up – until one day it all came crashing down.

Believe it or not, history is full of financial “bubbles” that always eventually burst.

It’s just the way of things…

How much you want to bet that even right now, yet another “bubble” is starting to expand – and people will soon start throwing their money into it…

Those who fail to study history are bound to repeat it.

-Bob Baran